


Flowers Speak Louder Than Words

by PhoenixFireAndSanelyInsane



Category: Naruto
Genre: Actually wait do try this at home, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Don't Try This At Home, Drama & Romance, Hanahaki Disease, Happy Ending, Hidan (Naruto) Swears, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Titles, I'm Going to Hell, I'm Sorry, Language of Flowers, M/M, Mentioned Fuu (Naruto), Mentioned Nii Yugito, Non-Canon Relationship, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Soulmates AU, What Have I Done, hanahaki, itachi and kisame make a brief appearance, kakusaso forever bitches, this ship is great, you can't stop me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 05:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15065933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoenixFireAndSanelyInsane/pseuds/PhoenixFireAndSanelyInsane
Summary: Kakuzu, the old miser, falls hard for someone he is sure isn't his soulmate. He tries to hide it, deny it even, but once that first petal appears, he knows he's screwed. He refuses to take someone away from their soulmate, so he chooses to let himself wither away instead of doing something that awful. Unbeknownst to him, it was a choice he didn't even have to make...(THIS IS ONLY RATED T BECAUSE OF HIDAN'S MOUTH IT'S ACTUALLY REALLY TAME OTHER THAN THAT)





	Flowers Speak Louder Than Words

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [I'll Breathe You A Garden](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13767831) by [raendown](https://archiveofourown.org/users/raendown/pseuds/raendown). 



> I'M SORRY THIS IS RAENDOWN'S FAULT SHE ENCOURAGED ME TO WRITE THE THING SO I DID I'M SORRY
> 
> ALSO KAKUSASO IS GREAT AND MORE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IT
> 
> ALSO I KNOW THE TITLE IS SHIT I'M SORRY

The first time Kakuzu met Sasori, it was while the latter was hiding out in his Hiruko puppet. The deep, rough voice the other man spoke with, not unlike his own, intrigued him. But he knew it wasn't Sasori's real voice. And he wanted to hear what he really sounded like.

It was a year later, during a meeting, that he saw Sasori's true form.

-

Kakuzu looked over at the short redhead standing next to Deidara, both of whom looked annoyed, and quirked an eyebrow. "Who the hell is that? Did you blow up your partner, Deidara?"

The redhead snorted. "I am his partner, Kakuzu. Hiruko is too damaged to use right now, so he's sealed in a scroll until I have time to repair him."

The ragdoll's breath hitched in his throat quietly and his eyes widened. _"So this is what he really looks like? And how he sounds? My god, he sounds like an angel."_ he thought.

During that year, the two had had a few chances to talk, and Kakuzu grew to like him. They seemed to have a lot in common, similar personalities, and both were easily annoyed by their partners, so they would often meet up to vent to each other. It was a nice, relaxing way to relieve stress.

-

The next morning, Kakuzu woke early to a coughing fit.

"Oi, keep it down you damn geezer! I'm trying to fucking sleep!" Hidan snapped.

When Kakuzu finally stopped coughing and let his hand drop, he noticed something fall from it and curiously picked it back up. It was a small, red flower petal with white around the edges. Once he processed what he was looking at, he froze in horror. _"No...It can't be...There's no way I have it!"_

With a shaky hand, he grabbed a small pouch from his bag and, after making sure it was empty, dropped the petal into it and hid it away. He fumbled to get himself ready for the day and kicked Hidan in the side. "Get up, we need to go to the nearest village now."

"Why? I'm fucking tired, you kept me up with your fucking coughing!" "Shut up and get dressed, I need to find something!"

Hidan grumbled and bitched as he got ready to leave their campsite, and kept it up as they practically ran to a small village about two hours away. Once there, Kakuzu headed straight for the bookshop and to the small section with medical books. Finding what he wanted, he searched around until he found another one, this one bigger, and purchased them both without a second thought before dragging Hidan back onto the path they needed to be on for their mission.

-

That night, after getting settled in the cave they had found, Kakuzu took out the smaller of the two books he had bought; _'Hanahaki Disease: The Beautiful Death'_.

It didn't take him long to read through it. He was somewhat of a speed reader, which he usually took pride in, but this was not something he actually wanted to read. He _needed to_ , and he hated it.

After reading it cover to cover and all but confirming what he had feared, he pulled out the other book; _'Floral Speak: The Language of Flowers'_.

He scanned through it and finally stopped when he saw a familiar looking flower and compared the petal he had to the one in the book. "Hm...Gloxinia, stands for love at first sight. Great." he muttered.

Kakuzu knew he was absolutely, royally _screwed_.

-

For the next month, Kakuzu would randomly cough up red or purple Gloxinia petals, and he stored each and every one in that small pouch until it became full, at which point he tied it up and started using a new one. On the day that marked one month since he coughed up that first petal, and three weeks since he couldn't deny anymore that he had contracted Hanahaki Disease, it got worse.

He and Hidan had stopped at a small onsen at the albino's demand to relax. They were the only ones there, and Hidan was actually quiet for once, much to Kakuzu's relief. He hadn't been feeling well since he had woken up, but he had felt a bit better after sinking into the hot water.

At least until he got a tickle in his throat.

The ragdoll suddenly went into a violent coughing fit. His hand shot up to cover his mouth while his other arm clutched his stomach.

"What the fuck, Kakuzu? Can't you stop coughing for one god damned day?!"

Kakuzu responded by dropping his hand as two full Gloxinia blooms, one red and one purple, fell out of his mouth and into the water. Hidan just stared between them and the man hey had come from, looking shocked.

"Did...Did you just...? Did those come from you?"

After hesitating for a moment, he sighed and nodded, waiting to hear Hidan laugh. But it never came.

"You know you're fucked, right? Obviously the person isn't dead if you're spewing flowers, but you have a soulmate somewhere and you'll have to choose between them." Hidan gestured to the partially visible tattoo on the front of his left hip, which the ragdoll quickly covered with his hand. "Don't act like a pussy, I've seen it before. It's weird though."

The tattoo, which Kakuzu was attempting to hide, was indeed unique. It had a smaller wood chisel and a ryoba saw with identical handles crossed over each other like an 'x', a very small pile of wood shavings underneath them, and a wooden 'x' above them with a string attached to each end, with the strings attaching to the tools. He had never been able to fully decipher it, except that his soulmate did some sort of woodwork, possibly carving.

He carefully picked the flowers out of the water and gently placed them on the ground behind him, sighing and sinking further into the water. "Don't remind me."

The two stayed silent for the rest of their visit. Kakuzu added the flowers to his current collection pouch when they left, remembering what the book had said; _Every month you have Hanahaki, you will produce a full bloom. The flowers may change monthly, they may change at random, or you may only produce one type of flower for the duration. Each month, more full blooms will appear, and in the last three months, most of what's produced will be partial or complete flowers. The end is near when you produce nothing but complete flowers for a week, and if your love is not returned and shown with a kiss, you will die within a week and complete the one year cycle. It is best to tell the one the flowers are for before you hit the six-month mark._

He was dreading what was to come.

-

Two days later, he began coughing up small magenta petals.

When he and Hidan were able to take a proper break to rest, he again flipped through the book of flowers until he found one that matched the petals; _Magenta Zinnia, stands for lasting affection_.

He kept these petals in a separate pouch. For some reason, he wanted to keep each type of flower separated. Hidan hadn't complained once about any of his coughing fits since he had discovered the cause, and Kakuzu was grateful for it. Hearing the complaints only made him feel worse.

-

The next month, they had another meeting, and once again, Kakuzu got to see Sasori out of Hiruko. He stole glances whenever he could do so without being caught. His chest had a dull ache, and he couldn't figure out if it was longing or simply just his lungs preparing to force more floral arrangements out of his throat. After a few moments, he discovered it was the latter. Eyes widening, he bolted outside and into the trees a decent distance away before he had to stop to deal with the oncoming fit. The ragdoll had to hold onto a tree to keep from falling over as a complete Zinnia finally hit the ground, followed by a few matching petals and a few white ones. As the coughing started to ease up, he felt a hand lightly rubbing his back and glanced up, only to see Hidan standing there.

"I told them you got food poisoning yesterday and probably ran out to hurl. I offered to come get you."

He nodded and shakily replaced his mask before gathering up the flower and the petals, carefully putting them away before following the albino back to the meeting and apologizing for running out. He also confirmed Hidan's lie and said he'd be fine to finish the meeting so long as they hurried so he could go get something to help him get over it faster.

That night, he again took out his book to identify the new petals; _Gardenia, stands for secret love._

-

Month four started after he spat out a rather pretty Gardenia and a few bright yellow petals. By this time, he had made up a scroll to seal the flowers and petals in, separated by month and labeled by name and meaning of the flowers, and placed a seal on one of his small pouches to make it practically bottomless so he would only need one to collect everything in.

Hidan had also been surprisingly supportive, rubbing his back during the bad fits to make it a bit easier on him. Kakuzu didn't question his actions. He didn't feel the need to do so.

He was a bit shocked, though, when Hidan insisted on them stopping to rest sooner than planned near the end of the month, and got out the flower book for him.

_Daffodil,_ _stands for unrequited love._

-

Month five was filled with more white petals, though these were much smaller than those from a Gardenia. They nearly choked him when he and Hidan fought to capture Yugito, but his partner took over fighting when his coughing made it impossible for him to keep doing so. Afterward, their mission a success, he gathered up the delicate looking petals before they headed for the meeting place with the Jinchuriki in tow.

While they sealed the Nibi, his eyes were trained on Sasori every second they didn't need to be elsewhere. And as soon as he and Hidan left once the sealing was complete, he had to grab onto the albino to avoid falling over while he coughed up a good sized bunch of small white flowers.

_Acacia Blossom, stands for concealed love_.

-

Due to bad weather, the Zombie Combo were holed up in a cave, and the older of the two was spitting out pale pink petals every hour or two. It was starting to get on his nerves if he was to be honest. His partner had somehow come up with a small bucket for him to spit the blasted things into so he could gather them up easier before they left, and it was making things a little easier on him. But he was still seriously annoyed with his condition.

_Pink Camellia, stands for 'longing for you'_.

-

Month seven started out with bright red petals. And, in an ironic turn of events, Sasori asked Kakuzu to meet to for tea so they could have another "bitching about our annoying partners" discussion. Though he wanted to say no, Hidan threatened to sing nonstop for a week straight if he did, so he said yes and went to the chosen teahouse. He tried his best to avoid eye contact from the moment he walked in.

"It's been a bit, hasn't it? I'm surprised you didn't ask for this a while ago." the redhead commented.

"Well, Hidan hasn't been much of an annoying shit lately. I've been dealing with some bug on and off, and he's been surprisingly helpful. No clue why."

Sasori looked oddly concerned, but said nothing about it.

"Deidara has gotten into this bratty streak. It's driving me up the wall, I'm honestly tempted to threaten him with a spanking and a timeout if he doesn't stop."

The ragdoll snorted.

"If you decide to carry out that threat, let me know, I could probably sell quite a few tickets to watch."

The two laughed a bit until Kakuzu started coughing. He quickly replaced his mask just in time to hide the petals that started spilling from his lips. The puppet frowned as the coughing turned violent.

"Are you alright? Maybe you should see a doctor, that may not have been food poisoning you got a few months back. Or, if it was, it could've left something behind."

When he finally stopped coughing, the ragdoll shook his head. "I'm fine. There's a lot of ragweed around here, I'm allergic to it. That's all."

Sasori didn't look convinced, but he didn't press the issue.

They soon decided to call it a day and went their separate ways. Once back at the campsite, Kakuzu shook all the red petals out of his mask and hood into the small bucket before storing them in the pouch.

That night, a whole flower came up.

_Red Carnation, stands for 'My heart aches for you'_.

-

Kakuzu gasped for air as he leaned back against a tree, his lap covered in tiny blue petals. Hidan silently cleaned them off and put each one in the bucket. The ragdoll slowly looked at him.

"Why?"

"Why what, heathen?"

"Why have you been so nice to me since you found out I have hanahaki? You haven't said one negative thing about it, made fun of me, and you've kept it to yourself. That's not like you."

The albino looked away. "I watched my best friend die from it. I begged and pleaded with the guy she liked to just kiss her when she had less than a month left. I did that for the entire month, and if I wasn't doing that, I was at her side in the hospital. We didn't have any medics who could give her the surgery. He kept refusing, but the day I finally got him to agree just to shut me up, she died. Right after he said yes, I ran back to her and told her. She was so happy that she was able to breathe just a little bit easier. Her throat actually got cleared out for a few minutes. We were able to talk without her choking on daisies. Then she told me she was tired and wanted to take a short nap before he got there. She fell asleep smiling and holding my hand. Her heart stopped a few minutes later, and the guy showed up while they were trying to bring her back. They even had him come in and kiss her, which did cure her, but they couldn't get her heart restarted. I was the last person she spoke to, and I saw how much pain she went through. I couldn't do anything to make her more comfortable because I was too busy panicking over losing my best friend. I don't want to make that mistake again. Shit, if it was me those things were for, I'd just kiss you to make it stop, but I know it's not."

Kakuzu frowned.

"I'm sorry. But thanks for trying to help. He won't return my feelings, though."

Hidan quirked an eyebrow. "He? You're gay?" "Yes, got a problem with that?" "No! It just surprised me!"

"Well, you'll forget about it when I'm gone. Just like you'll forget about me. So it doesn't really matter."

_Forget-Me-Not, stands for true love_.

-

Nearly hot pink petals, lightly speckled with blood. Kakuzu felt about ready to just give up and ask Hidan to put him out of his misery. But they were on their way to seal another Bijuu, so he couldn't do it now, and he knew the answer would be 'no' anyway, so there was no point.

Sasori took notice of how run down he looked, and it was obvious that he didn't like what he saw. But he chose to stay silent, as there was nothing he felt he could do without knowing the problem.

_Cyclamen, stands for resignation_.

-

At least it was sweet this time. Kakuzu wiped off his mouth to clean off the bit of blood as he stared down at the white petals. _"Third time I've had white flowers...How cliche."_

He sighed as he put the blood-stained petals into his pouch and continued on with a bit of difficulty.

_Honeysuckle, stands for generous and devoted affection_.

-

Kakuzu was almost constantly coughing out flowers, now. The petals were a beautiful wine-like color, and even without knowing what they were when they first appeared, they were his favorites. When he looked at them, he imagined sitting in a nice restaurant with Sasori, drinking a hearty red wine the color of the petals. But, he knew it would never happen. Sasori would never return his feelings, not knowing that they both had soulmates somewhere out there waiting for them.

Hidan was also refusing to leave his side. He knew Kakuzu's time was almost up, and he had started begging the ragdoll to tell him who caused his disease so he could go track him down and drag him back to cure him. But he refused. He explained that the one he loved was much younger than him and couldn't be his soulmate, as he was well into adulthood by the time said object of his affections was born. And, well, like everyone else, he'd had his mark since he was born and he was the oldest living person known of in the entire world. There was no way his soulmate was even alive, and if by some miracle they were, they would be quite old with practically no time left.

"Just like you, ya damned old miser!"

_Purple Pansy, stands for 'You occupy my thoughts'_.

-

They were called for a meeting. Kakuzu and Hidan tried to weasel the ragdoll out of it, but it was about assigning a team to go find another Jinchuriki and all members were required to show up no matter what. And Kakuzu was miserable.

He did his best to keep from coughing, but it was causing him excruciating chest pain to do so, and a few petals still managed to fall into his mask every time he opened his mouth.

"Alright, we finally got word on the Nanabi. It is sealed in a young kunoichi from Takigakure, so I see fit that Hidan and Kakuzu go fetch her." Pein said.

Kakuzu opened his mouth to protest, but before he could say a word, he started choking on petals and coughing violently. He fell to his knees and Hidan got down beside him. After yanking off the older mans' mask, he started rubbing his back as the ground beneath them quickly became covered in orange, blood splattered flower petals.

Everyone gasped, some looking absolutely horrified and others just looking surprised. It took nearly five minutes for the coughing to stop.

"Kakuzu, how long has this been going on?" Pein demanded.

"Almost a year. Fucking geezer won't tell me who caused this because he doesn't want to take him away from his soulmate!" Hidan answered for him, using a small piece of cloth to clean the blood from Kakuzu's mouth.

Sasori was glad no one was looking at him because he felt his eyes watering. _"Kakuzu has hanahaki? And he's been fighting it for almost a year now? Why hasn't he said anything?"_

"So you've been letting yourself wither away?"

Kakuzu winced, clutching his chest. "Well, it's not like I have the option for the surgery. There's nothing that can be done, I'll be dead in a month and you can replace me."

The leader turned to Sasori.

"Sasori! Seeing as how you seem to know quite a bit about how to open up a body and surgically remove things, you are going to find out how to perform the surgery and do it. Fast! And learn whatever medical ninjutsu would be needed to heal him afterward."

The puppet nodded slowly. "H-Hai, Leader-sama."

"I don't want the surgery." "You're getting it anyway, you are too valuable to lose! That is an order!" "Y-Yes sir..."

_Primrose, stands for 'I can't live without you'_.

-

Two weeks had passed, and Kakuzu was now starting to cough up nothing but fully formed Primrose blooms in various colors, each flower stained with blood. It was getting nearly impossible to breathe, and the ragdoll was now being dragged to the Akatsuki base to rest and wait for the surgery.

When they, Kakuzu, Hidan, Kisame, and Itachi, were about an hour away from the base, Kakuzu collapsed, gasping for air while coughing violently. He wasn't going to make it to the base, and they all knew it. Within a minute, there were about a dozen and a half flowers on the ground.

Itachi and Kisame left him in Hidan's care and ran at top speed towards the base, promising to return with Sasori as fast as they could. Hidan did his best to make Kakuzu comfortable and tried to use his own chakra to forcibly open his airways enough to keep him breathing.

"Hidan, I'm not going to survive. It's too late. But it's okay...Thank you for being here for me. It means a lot. I know we hate each other, but I do appreciate your help. I've made peace with the fact I'm going to die. It's okay. Just let me go." he rasped out.

"No! I'm not going to just let you die without trying to do something, you fucking heathen! I can keep you breathing until Pinnochio gets here so he can save you!"

Kakuzu tried to argue but ended up just coughing out more flowers.

It took about an hour before Kisame and Itachi returned with Sasori, all three carrying a bag each. "Put those down next to Hidan!"

The redhead knelt down next to the brunet and quickly unzipped his cloak.

"Lay him flat!" "I can't, my chakra is the only thing keeping him breathing!" "Just don't remove the hand giving him chakra!"

Hidan hesitantly complied, and Sasori took out a kunai, which he used to start cutting off Kakuzu's shirt.

"N-No..." the ragdoll protested weakly.

"I can't do this through your clothes like an actual medic could, Kakuzu!"

He quickly had it cut off and tugged his pants down just a bit to make sure he had room, and he froze.

"Why the fuck did you stop?!" "I...I've never seen his soul mark..."

Kakuzu looked away.

"Kakuzu, please, just tell us who caused this! Apparently he's just gonna stare at you instead of doing anything!" Hidan pleaded. He sighed and looked up at Sasori.

"You. It's you. I didn't want to tell you because I'd heard you mention that you wish you could find your soulmate, and I didn't want to take that away from you...Soulmates are important, I couldn't stand the thought of keeping someone from theirs..."

Sasori started to shake a bit. "What's your passion?"

The ragdoll quirked an eyebrow.

"Why?" "Please, just tell me..."

He sighed.

"I like books. The older and rarer, the better. I love getting to read them..."

Kakuzu's mask was ripped off and he jumped, eyes going wide when Sasori suddenly kissed him hard. Hidan's hand got pushed out of the way accidentally, but Kakuzu's breathing didn't stop.

He inhaled deeply through his nose, feeling no pain in his chest for the first time in over six months. His lungs filled with air and he grabbed Sasori's hair and neck, kissing back just as hard.

He could _breathe_.

Which meant he was cured.

Which also meant that _Sasori returned his feelings_.

When the puppet finally pulled back, panting with pink dusted over his cheeks, he looked into Kakuzu's eyes. "Mine is an old, worn book with something like 'History of The Weather Clan' on the cover. I was told that that's an incredibly rare book."

Kakuzu just stared. "Yours...Yours has wood carving tools, wood shavings, and one of those horizontal control bars for marionettes. My passion, er, hobby, is working on my puppets, which I control with strings similar to the style of marionettes. You dumbass, _I'm_ your soulmate!"

Hidan wiped his eyes and grinned. "See? Shoulda said something ages ago, Geezer! Then you wouldn't have had to suffer!"

He sat up and smacked Hidan upside the head. "Shut up."

Sasori hugged him tightly, and he returned it for a moment before he began coughing violently.

"Aw come on! I thought that was supposed to fucking cure him!"

Kakuzu spit out a beautiful, pristine purple flower that matched the color of Sasori's poisons, and the two looked at it for a moment before looking back at each other.

"It's the final flower, Hidan. It signifies that the person is cured; It will never wilt, and it cannot die until both people involved in its creation have died." Itachi explained.

Kakuzu didn't even need to look it up in his book to know what it was, it was quite obvious. With a slightly shy smile, he gave it to Sasori.

_Ambrosia, stands for 'Your love is reciprocated.'_  


**Author's Note:**

> Yeah. So. This happened. All of these flowers have different meanings in the Language of Flowers in different countries, but for most, I used to the most common meanings used in North America (which is where I live, so). If you want to know what the flowers look like, just type the exact name I used into Google images and you'll see what I'm talking about. I have no idea how to insert images into fics yet so I can't do that ^^;
> 
> If enough people like this and ask for it, I may just write a little sequel where you get to find out the location of Sasori's soul mark...


End file.
